DESCRIPTION

These functions may be used to obtain explanations for errors returned
by the time(2) system call.
explain_time
const char *explain_time(time_t *t);
The explain_time function is used to obtain an explanation of an error
returned by the time(2) system call. The least the message will contain
is the value of strerror(errno), but usually it will do much better,
and indicate the underlying cause in more detail.
The errno global variable will be used to obtain the error value to be
decoded.
t The original t, exactly as passed to the time(2) system call.
Returns:
The message explaining the error. This message buffer is shared
by all libexplain functions which do not supply a buffer in
their argument list. This will be overwritten by the next call
to any libexplain function which shares this buffer, including
other threads.
Note: This function is not thread safe, because it shares a return
buffer across all threads, and many other functions in this library.
Example: This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to
the following example:
time_t result = time(t);
if (result == (time_t)-1)
{
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_time(t));
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
The above code example is available pre-packaged as the
explain_time_or_die(3) function.
explain_errno_time
const char *explain_errno_time(int errnum, time_t *t);
The explain_errno_time function is used to obtain an explanation of an
error returned by the time(2) system call. The least the message will
contain is the value of strerror(errno), but usually it will do much
better, and indicate the underlying cause in more detail.
errnum The error value to be decoded, usually obtained from the errno
global variable just before this function is called. This is
necessary if you need to call any code between the system call
to be explained and this function, because many libc functions
will alter the value of errno.
t The original t, exactly as passed to the time(2) system call.
Returns:
The message explaining the error. This message buffer is shared
by all libexplain functions which do not supply a buffer in
their argument list. This will be overwritten by the next call
to any libexplain function which shares this buffer, including
other threads.
Note: This function is not thread safe, because it shares a return
buffer across all threads, and many other functions in this library.
Example: This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to
the following example:
time_t result = time(t);
if (result == (time_t)-1)
{
int err = errno;
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", explain_errno_time(err, t));
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
The above code example is available pre-packaged as the
explain_time_or_die(3) function.
explain_message_time
void explain_message_time(char *message, int message_size, time_t *t);
The explain_message_time function is used to obtain an explanation of
an error returned by the time(2) system call. The least the message
will contain is the value of strerror(errno), but usually it will do
much better, and indicate the underlying cause in more detail.
The errno global variable will be used to obtain the error value to be
decoded.
message The location in which to store the returned message. If a
suitable message return buffer is supplied, this function is
thread safe.
message_size
The size in bytes of the location in which to store the
returned message.
t The original t, exactly as passed to the time(2) system call.
Example: This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to
the following example:
time_t result = time(t);
if (result == (time_t)-1)
{
char message[3000];
explain_message_time(message, sizeof(message), t);
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
The above code example is available pre-packaged as the
explain_time_or_die(3) function.
explain_message_errno_time
void explain_message_errno_time(char *message, int message_size, int
errnum, time_t *t);
The explain_message_errno_time function is used to obtain an
explanation of an error returned by the time(2) system call. The least
the message will contain is the value of strerror(errno), but usually
it will do much better, and indicate the underlying cause in more
detail.
message The location in which to store the returned message. If a
suitable message return buffer is supplied, this function is
thread safe.
message_size
The size in bytes of the location in which to store the
returned message.
errnum The error value to be decoded, usually obtained from the errno
global variable just before this function is called. This is
necessary if you need to call any code between the system call
to be explained and this function, because many libc functions
will alter the value of errno.
t The original t, exactly as passed to the time(2) system call.
Example: This function is intended to be used in a fashion similar to
the following example:
time_t result = time(t);
if (result == (time_t)-1)
{
int err = errno;
char message[3000];
explain_message_errno_time(message, sizeof(message), err,
t);
fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", message);
exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
}
The above code example is available pre-packaged as the
explain_time_or_die(3) function.